Via shifts chip making to China

@ 2014/02/23

Via is shifting its x86 CPU technologies and related personnel to its newly formed IC design joint venture with a China government-owned investment firm.

The company just surprised clients with a note in the mail saying that they will be pausing the sale of the x86 processors temporarily. Now it seems that the reason was that they have the removal men in.

Digitimes said that Via declined to comment about the news and pointed out that its x86 CPU business is still going so what is everyone worried about.

The venture with the Chinese was announced in early 2014 with Via owning a 20 per cent stake in the company. If Via is moving to China then the Chinese government can get its paws on x86 technologies to develop related products.

Via has been pushing its CPU products in China for many years, mainly targeting the white-box market. A move might indicate that Via may no longer release processors under its name and will instead use the name of the joint venture in the future.

The company's x86 CPU business is licensed by Intel and moving related resources to a new joint venture might raise an eyebrow at Chipzilla's HQ. However, the chip giant may not be able to do much because Intel reached an agreement with the US's Fair Trade Commission (FTC) in 2010 to not interfere with competition in the CPU and chipset markets, and extend its licensing of PCI Express to Via by at least another six years.